Maria said: "What a week. Last year I lost in the finals and I really wanted to go one extra step this year, and it's just been such a fantastic week...

"Simona and I had played a couple of times before, but she's really on a different level now. I don't know how I pulled it off. In the first set I wasn't doing much to hurt her, and that's the tennis she's capable of playing. I knew I had to do some different things after the first set to win this match...

"I don't take any finals for granted, and every tournament means a lot to me. I came close last year, and I didn't have a great first set today, but I knew it wasn't over until the last point was played." WTA story

Maria now leads Simona 3-0 in career matches. Their previous meeting was in 2012 on a Deco-Turf hardcourt in the 1st round at Beijing, when Maria defeated Simona 7-5, 7-5.

Maria is now 31-22 in WTA singles finals, and has a 23-5 singles match record this season. Maria has lost only 3 of the 46 matches she has played on clay courts since the 2011 French Open; all three losses were to Serena Williams.

Simona is now 7-4 in WTA singles finals, and has a 18-7 singles match record this season.

The Madrid Open was a new tourney for the WTA in 2009. The tourney is held at a new €157.6 million venue, with 14 indoor and 16 outdoor courts. Three of the courts are inside a single building called La Caja Mágica (The Magic Box), with independently-retractable roofs for each of those three courts. Court Manolo Santana seats over 12,000 fans, Court Arantxa Sanchez Vicario seats 3194, and Court Stadium 3 seats 2730. design & constr. pics
Up until 2003 the WTA Spanish Open was held in Madrid, and, in 2007 and 2006, the WTA Championships were held there.

Agnieszka said: "Of course it was a very tough first round, especially for my first outdoor tournament on clay. I didn't use my first chance when I was 5-3 up, but [Genie] was really playing and hitting the ball unbelievable. I think the tiebreak was the biggest key in that match. I did a couple of good shots in the tiebreak and managed to win that. And that gave me more confidence in the second set.
"Every point matters. The games were really tight. And the first set is always very important, especially in these kinds of matches. So that's why I was really doing everything to win that first set." WTA story

Maria said: "It was a good start for me. Obviously the first match at a new event is always challenging because you don't know what to expect, especially coming off the indoor tournament last week. It's always an adjustment to get yourself prepared for the first round. I'm happy that I won in two good sets today." WTA story

Christina said: "It was kind of funny when I saw the draw. Of all the people to play, I got Lauren, who I practice with all the time. You never want to play a friend, but at the same time, I had to stay focused and not spend too much time thinking about who I was playing, just what I needed to do... Since we play each other so much, she knows my game so well and I know her game so well, so there's really no surprises and we both kind of knew what the other was going to do." WTA story

Simona said: "[Lara is] a good player on clay because she has that Spanish style, hitting the forehand with a lot of topspin. She played well in the first set and when I was 4-3 down my serve really helped me. I just wanted to stay focused for every point and to fight for every point. So I did really well in the end, and I'm really happy that I won." WTA story

Maria said: "After a really good start to the match, I didn't keep that level. I didn't keep doing what I was doing. I think I had a bit of a letdown. But [Christina is] a good competitor. She won't just give matches away, and she works really hard out there, and I think she really showed that today." WTA story

Serena said: "I feel like [Carla] played really well today. She made me work for every point and it wasn't an easy win. I think that was her goal today, was to put on a really good show and play really hard and show me what she's capable of. She's obviously capable of doing a lot on the court. She just won a title last week, so she's definitely not an easy player to play." WTA story

Maria said: "It really could have gone her way today. It was just a matter of a few points in the second set. I was down, I didn't play a great first set, and I found a way to get myself in a position to be in the third." AP story

Maria said: "I started the match off really well and I was doing all the right things. Then [Agnieszka] gained a bit of confidence and started going for her shots more. It became a little bit trickier than I wanted in the second set. I was happy that I came back and stepped it up and did the right things to get myself back in a good position in that set." WTA story

n5 s4 Simona Halep ROU d n6 s5 Petra Kvitova CZE 6(4)-7, 6-3, 6-2

Simona's backhand drive

Simona said: "It's been an amazing week for me, I feel very well here in Madrid. I played really well, I was striking the ball really well." AP story